Puzzles have long been enjoyed as an engaging diversion. While frustration is oftentimes felt during attempts to solve a puzzle, its successful completion usually produces a somewhat satisfying feeling of accomplishment. However, as most are aware, this feeling is diminished when the puzzle and/or its solution are perceived to be "too simple".
Varieties of puzzles are several. Some are mechanical in nature--such as twisted nail puzzles and block puzzles. Other are linguistic in nature--such as crossword puzzles, acrostics, word searches, and the like. While certain classes of puzzles may have uncertain boundaries, among the several varieties of puzzles, one grouping can be clearly identified by the manner in which they are solved. These--the subject of the present application--are puzzles solved by arranging scrambled visual information in a predetermined pattern. Included within this grouping (herein sometimes called "visual information rearrangement puzzles") are the venerable sliding tile puzzles (i.e., the image-beating variety) and jigsaw puzzles, as well as the more recent and mechanically fascinating three-dimensional multi-colored solid puzzles in the nature of the so-called "Rubik's Cube" and its progeny.
While conventional formats for visual information rearrangement puzzles remain popular, novel means have been sought for enhancing their challenge (i.e., their difficulty).